Start to Summer

The first few days of summer have been pretty packed. We had a fun day on Thursday with Emma's little friend Lauren from dance. Her mom and I have become good friends this year but have not had the girls together since dance ended. So, they met us at the YMCA pool that day. They had such a good time and before Maryanne and I knew it, it was 1:30 and the kids had not had lunch! So, we changed everyone and then went to Chick Fil A. I think we were there about an hour since they had to play in the play area and then they had ice cream. They had a great day together and we both notice how Emma and Lauren just play so well together.

the girls with Lauren at Chick Fil A

Friday I had a day out to myself. I first had my "yearly"appointment, and I would never mention that on here but wanted to express my relief that none of my "issues" from last year were present this year. I was nervous going in that another lump would be found or another biopsy would need to be done but he said I was in perfect health and 17 pounds lighter than last year!

After the appointment I hit the $13.99 sale at Gymboree, stocked up on my hair products, picked up lunch for me and Laura and then went to her house to FINALLY hold her sweet, precious baby boy who was born so early in January. They definitely needed some time to adjust at home and Laura is still on dialysis three times a week. I don't know how they are managing everything but it was so good to see her hold her adorable baby! He just stared at me and would smile every now and then. He loved his little swing but then got sleepy and went right to sleep in Laura's arms. I am just so happy for this friend of mine to see her hold her baby and know that he is healthy and at home. I still pray for her everyday and hope that her health improves and that she has a successful transplant match and surgery in the months to come. Friday night we had a ton of storms move through. They lasted pretty much until the girls went to bed and it was a nice night to stay in.

me and baby Cooper

Saturday was nice. Bo got the oil changed in the van and then we took the girls back to the YMCA pool. (The neighborhood pool is just not as fun these days as the splash pad and water buckets at the Y). We came home for lunch and then I started getting ready for our date night. Sam came over to watch the girls and Bo and I went to price and get samples of hardwood floors and then he took me shopping at Ann Taylor Loft since hardly any of my clothes fit and I needed some nice work clothes for my conference this week. After that we went to our annual anniversary dinner at the Melting Pot. It was super good as usual and we even ran into Carrie and Luke who were also eating there for their anniversary.  Sam sent us some pictures that night and the girls just love her so much - they had a fun night too.

 Melting Pot shot

 picture from Sam

 the lovely mess the girls made while playing with Sam

Sunday morning I started packing and getting ready for my trip, our beach trip and getting the girls' things organized for being away for four days. The girls were playing dress up while I was working and Hannah just cracked me up wearing her Pocahontas costume. We went to mom and dad's later because they needed Bo's help in cleaning some things out of the old store. So, they fed us lunch and dinner. 

Today I am finalizing some things for my trip since I leave tomorrow for my conference. I am packing for the beach, since we leave as soon as I get home from MD. There is a lot to prepare for especially with the girls going between my mom, Bo, Beth and Bremer while I am gone. The girls will be fine since it is pretty much their normal schedule aside from staying one night with mom and dad. I am not worried about them, I am more worried about them having all of the things they need and easy for Bo to get everything to the right place. I leave tomorrow around 9AM. I am riding with three other work friends and we will be at the conference Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning. Bo picks me up Friday and then we will all be under one roof again that night. I will have time to do laundry, repack, get kids in bed, go out with the girls to a late showing of "Magic Mike" and then I have Carrie's baby shower Saturday morning and finally hit the road for the beach - but at least its for a week this time and we will actually have time to sit back and relax a little.

We definitely have a busy week and a lot of chaos going on! I may not have any updates until after our beach week!

School's Out For Summer!

Yesterday concluded our teacher workdays and around lunchtime we were outta there! Is is really weird that I think I am going to miss working over the summer? I mean, I am going to love the time I will have with the girls, but I just like staying on a schedule. I like getting out of the house. I like socializing with friends at work! Aside from a conference, a beach trip and a visit to PA to visit Kristin, we really do not have a lot going on this summer. Disney was a big part of our vacation this year. We are also focusing a lot on my grandmother's estate and selling the properties. My parents are having the old family store completely redone with the assistance from the historical society. They too are also going to redo the house next door to them that was also inherited through my grandmother's estate. We have a lot going on and we need to focus on getting our family affairs in order.

So, we have a busy first couple of weeks of summer. First, I leave for Baltimore on Tuesday for a leadership conference for work. It is four days - but, I get all of my recertification points knocked out for the year! Plus - it's free - thanks Suffok Public Schools. PLUS - I get a hotel room to my self, free meals and social time with some other great professionals from my school. I am looking forward to it.

After that I come home for a dear friend's baby shower and then we are off to the beach for the week with the Hamricks. So - busy for the first couple of weeks. Then, things will slow down mid July.

After finally completing inventory and checking off teachers I left work yesterday feeling very accomplished about a successful and wonderful year. I could not have asked for anything more than that. I picked up the girls at moms and we all headed to Lindsay's pool to swim - we do that every year on my last workday.

Bo was running late, so we went to Mammie's for a yummy dinner - roast beef, fried sweet potatoes, green beans, corn, black eyed peas, fresh cucumbers and grilled chicken strips!!! She had something for everybody. I don't think I have eaten that much in months.

The girls love it when Mammie draws pictures for them. She drew a picture of Hannah's lamby, which she loved and she drew a picture of Emma's Barbie doll.

This morning was my first morning of summer sleeping in - and the girls did too thank goodness. Lilly is also doing so much better. She is back to sleeping on our bed, barking, jumping on the furniture, playing with her food, rolling on the floor, and licking our faces. It is amazing how she has bounced back. The only thing she is not really doing is going up the house stairs. I snapped a picture of her this morning with her new summer haircut. 

Today we also showed our house! It is not even on the market but a friend of mine's mother in law REALLY wants to move to our neighborhood. She knew we were hoping to sell soon and wanted to come see it to get first dibs on an offer. She loved it too and said it was a perfect place for her. Now - if she would buy it that would be wonderful! We will see. 

The girls and I had lunch at my favorite - Baker's Crust today and had to run to Babies R Us to buy a shower present. Tomorrow we may tackle the pool since it is HOT!!! Happy start to summer! 

Flag Day Photo Shoot

Last week my mom and sister had fun while I was at work. They took the kids for a photo shoot in their patriotic outfits. My sister has started taking pictures for her friends so she was practicing more with our kids. They turned out sooooo cute.

Catching Up

I wanted to write about my cousin Kelly's play that we went to see last Sunday the 10th. She is in a drama group and all year they have prepared for their big production, which was the Wizard of Oz. I took Emma and Bo stayed home with Hannah and Andy! Emma LOVED it. She did not know the story, so I was explaining it a lot, but she was not afraid of the witch or the wizard and those characters did get pretty loud and scary. The little girl who played Dorothy was adorable with a very talented voice and Kelly played a cute munchkin. We were very proud of Kelly, especially since she had been through so much that week with her brother being in the hospital and her parents juggling work and being with Colby at CHKD. Kelly took Emma backstage afterward and she thought she was meeting movie stars!

The rest of last week went by really fast as we had half days all week. Lilly has continued to improve each day, which we are so grateful for. She has gone back to sleeping in bed with me and Bo. She is getting around the house with no problems. She has started to climb the outside stairs, but not the inside stairs. She is barking again. Tonight she also jumped off and on the couch again. Her vision must be improving somewhat as she has been across the whole yard and come right to me and up the stairs to come inside with no problems. 

Friday was out last day of school for the kids. I have to admit that it was really hard saying goodbye to my fifth graders. When the kids exited the building all of the teachers were in a tunnel so they all walked through us and to the buses. The fifth graders were crying their eyes out, realizing they were not coming back to this school and seeing their teachers here again. I was really surprised how emotional they were and when some of them hugged me goodbye, I was really surprised that I was tearing up with them. They  may not had been "my students" but I did make connections with many of them, especially my monitors and it was much harder to say goodbye to them than I expected. 

Right after work that day Bo and I hit the road to Myrtle Beach for his cousin's wedding. It was a rushed, but nice weekend together. The girls had never been to a wedding before, so they were very interested in everything. Both of them danced their little hearts out that night and we all had a nice time. Hannah had her first sip of wine when she stuck her hand right in my wine glass during the toast and then proceeded to lick her fingers before I could do anything about it. We got home Sunday around 5:00 in time to pick up Lilly from mom and dad and see my dad for a bit on fathers day. 

The girls gave Bo some Polo shirts for Fathers Day and I gave my dad another one of his movie sets. I am really mad that I did not get a picture. We were in the car all day and then my parents' grill caught on fire while trying to cook dinner so that was really fun and everything just got thrown off track. The girls and myself are blessed to have such wonderful, loving fathers. 

I also had something really neat but strange happened when I got home Sunday evening. The kids were in the tub and I was unpacking my suitcase. The suitcase i was using was actually my Granny's. She had a really nice set that I wanted and have used since she passed away. I moved a pair of jeans from the bottom of the suitcase and there were two silly bands - the pig and the angel that I had found last year around this time in my house that I believe were signs from my cousin Mandy. The silly bands were certainly not there when I was packing and I have not seen them since last summer. I thought I had put them away in my jewelry box. The girls have not had them and they  had their own suitcases with their clothes and jewelry. I called for Bo and showed him and he immediately knew what I was thinking. The same two silly bands in my grandmother's suitcase. The suitcase had also been in the attic before I took it out for this weekend. Signs from heaven again? I think my grandmother and Mandy are together. 

I snapped a picture with my phone - the pig and angel together in the corner under my clothes in Granny's luggage. 

More of this week....

Emma and Hannah this week - they have been so good considering a lot of our attention has gone to Lilly this week. 

This was Thursday night when Bo was out of town. The girls got the dress up box out. Hannah decided to be Pocohantas. Of course she had on a Minnie Mouse necklace, a Minnie Mouse earring, and sparkly shoes. She was a hot mess and I sent this to Bo that night for a good laugh since we really needed one!

After Lilly's vet appointment today we took the kids to the pool while she was resting. This was our first swim of the summer. I could not believe Emma's swimming progress in the water. Hannah is in a swim ring this year, so we are no longer holding kids in the pool - wooo hoooo!!! (yes, we are still swimming in the pool and right with them, but it is nice to not carry one around all the time!)

This evening was the annual summer Chuckatuck fish fry - yee haw! This night reminds me how I love the small town I grew up in and the Oakland/Chuckatuck/Kings Hwy community. We always see people we have known forever, but not see all the time. Hannah loved the homemade ice cream and cake. Emma loved her fish! Hannah's picture was also taken by a photographer after we went to the bake sale, so we will see if she makes the newspaper! We also got to see the family of Officer James Winslow, who was the police officer severely beaten and injured about a month ago. He was my sister's age and his brother was my age while growing up. He is finally at home recovering and it was good to see his family in person and tell them how much we have thought about them. The fish fry is always at the volunteer fire station, so the girls were posing on the firetruck. So many people had even heard of Lilly's accident being it happened at mom's house, so it was so nice to have people concerned about her! We took Lilly to mom and dads while we ate. We had her crated but when we all got home we had her in the backyard and she looked like the happiest dog ever running around. She also recognized Lindsay. Andy and the girls played outside for awhile, then had popsicles. 

So Thankful!

After a pretty much horrible Monday evening with Lilly at the ER vet, Tuesday came and Lilly's doctor said she was more alert, no brain swelling and that she had used the bathroom on her own. Those were good signs she said and that things were looking in her direction - what? I seriously could not believe it. She suggested I go to work and come see her after work and that they would really pay attention to how Lilly reacted to seeing us to tell how her brain was working.

It was a long day, and my assistant principal let me leave at 3:00 so I could meet Bo there (he had not seen her yet at all since he was out of town Monday). They brought Lilly to us and she practically ran up Bo's shoulder. She was so excited to see us. We tried to keep her calm and just held her awhile. She even ate a little bit of soft food from my finger. At that point the doctor was happy with her reaction to us. She suggested to stay another night for fluids and that the next step would be to see if Lilly would eat on her own. We left feeling positive, but still uneasy. We picked up the girls from mom and dads and the rest of the night seems hazy. There was not a lot of talking, not a lot of laughter - just sort of a missing piece to the family that night since everyone was home for the first time since the incident - except Lilly.

Wednesday morning came and the vet said she had a good night - walked around outside and ate more. They said more than likely she would come home that day. I was thrilled. I had a great day at work and then I spoke to the vet around lunchtime. She said Lilly was not responding to a vision test. What? This had not been mentioned before! I was so upset. My mom went up to the vet to see her since I was at work. She called afterwards crying and saying Lilly was blind. She was running into walls, crying and whimpering. I was so upset. We had a good visit with her yesterday and now I was getting more bad news.

Bo got to the vet before me that afternoon. I talked to him on the phone and he said Lilly was just not right. He said she did not recognize him and that her vision indeed was bad. I got there, walked in the room without saying a word and Lilly still responded to me. She perked right up, tail wagging and into my arms. She seemed to have some sight to her and the vet did the test again and said there was more reaction in one eye than the other. She said there was nothing more to really do there. She said if we took her home we just had to monitor her eating/drinking and medicines. She said give her time to heal and she will become familiar with her environment, smells and sounds. She said believe it or not, most dogs her age go blind anyway. She said some dogs are blind and the owners don't even know it because their other senses take over so much. I felt very confident about taking her home. Lilly was even responding to words like "home" "treat" "ride" and "greenie." So, the vet was not worried about her hearing. So, we left and brought her home. We made the laundry room her new room and got her acquainted to the yard again. That first night was hard and we all knew Lilly was not herself. She was "lost" in a sense that she did run into things. She would do circles in the yard. We had to feed her by syringe. I am not going to lie - I was scared. We were up with her off and on through the night with medications and feedings. It was pitiful and it reminded me just like taking care of a newborn.

I stayed home from work Thursday to take care of her. Bo went out of town. That day I did not see many improvements in her until about 6:00 pm. I had my moments of breaking down seeing her in this condition. Bo and I talked on and off through the day. How long do we give her? What if she does not start eating on her own? Is she happy? When will her "sparkle" be back? I think all of conversations ended in tears.

Then that evening things changed.

1.My mom came over to help me out and brought Chick Fil A to us for dinner. We tried giving Lilly some chicken and she ate it. That was a big deal - she could eat on her own!

2. My dad came to see her - she recognized him!

3. I took her outside and a dog that she normally goes crazy about walked by. Lilly did not respond to her. Then, I picked Lilly up to come in and she started huffing and puffing, tail wagging looking at that dog. The dog was too far away for her to just smell it. And the dog was not making a sound, so she was not hearing him. Lilly was seeing.

All of us were so excited. We were seeing improvements in her already.

So, I continued to give her meds and let her rest in her crate. When the girls went down I just cuddled with her on the conch in the blanket that she loves to lay on. I was exhausted but up again with her at 3:30 and 5:30 for meds. I got ready for work and my mom felt confident to watch her and the girls that day. I went over the "medicine chart" we made and all of her syringes. Mom brought some "Ceasar" soft food and Lilly downed it on her own. Mom said she had a pretty good day but that she still thought Lilly responded best to me.

Friday night Bo brought home Olive Garden. Lilly was pretty much the same but still ate and drank more on her own.

Today has been great. First, she ate her regular food from her bowl for the first time. She went to the vet this morning and her regular dr. was happy with her progress. Still, one eye is better than the other. She was happy with her eating, her weight, her walking, her reactions, etc. She said to give her plenty of time and that even she had a blind dog and that he is happy, gets around fine and does great in the house and yard. She said her sight still had time to improve, but I should not stress if it doesn't. She said Lilly will adapt and soon be her own self living her new life.

I got back home with her and it was like Lilly was the same old dog. She walked around the house fine. She found her dish bowls on her own and ate/drank from them. I took her outside and she even started climbing the stairs to come back in. She is going potty when we take her. She is walking great - she is now brushing against us and walking, brushing against us, and walking like she wants to know where we are in relation to her. She is getting around the house much better. She has not even been in the crate today aside from her nap and we even went ahead the made the laundry room back to normal. The only thing she has not done is climb the house stairs and been around the upstairs on her own because we are afraid she could fall through the railings.

I am shocked, happy, surprised, amazed - I just cannot believe it. She has improved so much and seems to be determined to adapt to her new life. We are so proud of her for fighting. She is still bruised on the side of her head. Sometimes she is unbalanced and wobbly - especially on the kitchen floor. If she gets "lost" for a minute, she just stands in place - like waiting for help from one of us to show her the right direction instead of getting herself hurt. She has gone back to her food bowls this afternoon and ate some more. I still feel sorry that she is dealing with this, but it is much better than the alternative. I cannot get the picture of her in that road out of my head but then I see her in the house and I am just so glad she is home. I know she still has a recovery ahead and we are making sure she is resting and not having too much stimulation. Love you so much Lilly!

The girls have really handled everything well. They talk to her and pet her. They understand she cannot see well. Emma understands why Lilly does not sleep with her and she has not once cried or not slept well even though Lilly is not with her. Right now Lilly is sleeping in her nice, bedded crate beside our bed. The girls also ask at random times to say a prayer for Lilly. It is so sweet to hear them thank God for Lilly being alive and telling God that we are so happy Lilly is getting better.

We will keep updating on her progress, but for now we could not be happier about all she has been able to accomplish in less than a week. Sweet doggy!

She is such a big part of our lives - more than I even realize now. She has a portrait on our wall, there are dog things around the house - crate, food, dishes, leash, etc. Her name is embedded in many different passwords that we use. So many of our daily routes revolve around her. When she was not here for two days it was really weird not doing certain things that we are just use to doing for her. There are so many books and toys that the girls have about dogs and it just makes me think of us having Lilly. Her little looks, stares and attitudes are such a part of us and were so missed recently. Bo and I miss her sleeping at the foot of our bed.

 Tuesday afternoon, about 24 hours after accident

 another Tuesday night pic - Bo seeing her for first time

 Wednesday night - first night home - a little drugged up!

 Saturday - off to the vet for follow up appointment! (notice how she is looking toward left where her dominant eye is now)

Saturday afternoon - found her bowl again!

I don't think she could do a thing right now to make us mad. In a way, I think she is loving all of the recent attention. She has certainly been the center of it the past few days. Sometimes you just don't know what you have until you almost lose it out of nowhere. This little dog has seen us through some hard times and we are going to see her through her hard time just the same.

Puppy Love

Well, that wonderful weekend in the last post was short lived. Today started as a normal day and was ending as usual. After work I went to moms to get the girls. Dad was on duty and Bo was out of town so the girls and I had spaghetti night with mom. We were playing around with the girls and just doing nothing when I decided to start packing everything up to leave. I always take the bags to the van, open both doors and mom puts in a child and I put in the other. Lilly always goes potty one more time before she hops in the van herself.

That is where tonight ended differently. As we were getting the kids into the van we noticed Lilly was on the far side of mom and dad's house and not on the side near the van. She never goes over there. We were calling her expecting her to come right over. Then Mom saw her head to the back of the house, so I started walking to the back calling her over and over again. We went back to the front and then I saw her in the road. She had all four paws in the air and then I knew she had been hit by a car. My parents live in rt. 10 off the main road and even though it is a two lane street and only 35 MPH, it stayed pretty busy especially that time in the evening. I could not believe what I was seeing and just started running for the road. As I got there I noticed how strange it was that no cars were coming in either direction. I just picked her up and held her. Lilly's eyes were opened but her neck was tilted far back. I thought she had surely broken her neck. She was also very stiff and made a very weird sound from in her throat and so I immediately just started saying good-bye to her. Mom had ran over to me and just hugged me and we walked to the side porch with her. I just knew she was going to die in my arms.

Then a truck pulled in our driveway and a lady got out and said how sorry she was - that there was nothing she could do to avoid hitting her. I was in such a shock I don't remember anything else. The girls were in the van panicking and not knowing what was wrong. I decided it was best to tell them that Lilly was hurt and that she was going to live with Jesus. We were all telling her we loved her over and over again.

My mom was calling Bo and we still didn't know just what to do. After about five minutes - even though it seems like an hour - Lilly was still breathing and had a heartbeat. Mom said to take her to the vet to see if she could be saved. I then noticed I had blood all over my shirt from holding her and that it was coming from her ear. Mom threw the kids in her car so fast I don't even know how she did it all. We were rushing to get to the vet, which I knew was about 40 minutes away since ours was closed. As I called the lady asked where I was coming from and when I said Suffolk, she said that a new ER vet had opened closer to us. So, I called there and they were ready for us.

I thought Lilly was fading in the car as I held her. At one point I thought it was over but then she would open her eyes again. Of course we even had to get behind a cop on the way there but my mom still managed to get us there in record time. When we got to the vet they were practically waiting with their hands out. They were amazing. Even the secretary came out and helped my mom with the kids. Come to find out this place had just opened month ago. It was beautiful and everyone there was just so nice to us.

After a few minutes they called me back and I thought, well, that was too fast, they are giving me bad news. But, she said they started an IV, gave her pain meds and wanted to do X-rays. After about 20 or so minutes she showed me the X-ray. I COULD NOT believe Lilly had no broken bones. She said the bleeding was coming from a small cut above her ear and that she had some swelling around her lungs, which was normal for this type of injury. She said the main concern was her brain swelling, which would cause to hemorrhage and that would kill her instantly. So, I had to sign to give her an injection to help prevent the swelling. Then after going over the figures that a night stay would cost us, they suggested we go and keep tabs on her through the night. They assured us that she would be constantly monitored and if any negative changes occurred they would call me.

We all went back to her to say goodnight. She was in a little acrylic like box with oxygen flowing in it and an IV. She was breathing heavily and her eyes were squinty. The girls were holding up pretty well and just asked why she had to stay and if she would come home. Hannah insisted that she keep her "blanket" which was the towel we brought her in. The whole way home my mom and I just could not believe she was even there and alive. The way I saw her look in that road gave me no hope at all for her. Boy, was I wrong. For a 4lb. little dog, I think she was determined to hang in there or at least give it a try for us.

Poor Bo being out of town did not handle the news well. My mom was a disaster and I felt like I had to keep it together for the girls. It was not until I got home that I really started to cry, realizing how much Lilly is part of this home. I got her my senior year of college and Bo came to love her very quickly. She was our baby when we were having a hard time having babies. Now she is a protector of the girls. She still thinks she is a child and has showed me quite a few times how mad she is when we leave her at home and the girls get to go somewhere. I mean....Lilly even goes to my moms when the girls go. She is rarely left alone.

My heart is aching for her tonight, but I know she is in the best place at the time. The update awhile ago was good. The nurse said she was better than before - more alert, aware of her surroundings and she had moved around in her house a little bit. She said her blood work was good too. I think it was a miracle she has made it this far. My mom and I had our backs turned to the road calling her name for awhile, and we don't know exactly when she was hit. But, the most amazing thing to me is that another car did never came around that corner to hit her again while she was still in the road. When I ran to her I noticed immediately no cars were coming in either direction. That is what really got me.

We will know more on Lilly in the morning. I am pulling for her big time and hoping she will get to come home. I hope she will be normal and walk and potty okay. I am still very worried but at least she is there and being well cared for.

WE LOVE YOU LILLY!!! PLEASE COME HOME HEALTHY!  The girls and I said a prayer when we got home and i certainly believe He was watching over in that road. My dad said that he thinks Lilly ran into the tire and was not actually hit. It knocked her out pretty good, but if the truck had ran over her, there would be no way her tiny body would had survived that big truck. He also said he has noticed a lot of squirrels on that side of the house recently and thinks she may have ran after a squirrel. I do believe that is what may had happened because Lilly never goes over there and when she sees something, she goes after.

Hope to have good news tomorrow. I cannot sleep. My nerves are shot. Nothing is on TV. I miss my dog being in bed with me and keeping me company, especially when Bo is gone.

this was the very first picture that came up when selecting a picture to upload and it is also one of my favorites. my sweet, precious puppy - love her so much.

Great Weekend

So, I guess we made up from our laziness (AKA me not putting down Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy) from last weekend. Friday night was pretty laid back. Bo went to fix a friend's sink so the girls and I stayed home after I visited a friend for a short while. The weather around Hampton Roads that night was just crazy. Storms were all around us and a water spout turned into a tornado and hit the Hampton area. Just as we were ready for the kids to go to bed the warnings began to flash around us. There was an area of rotation in north Suffolk and then two were south of us. The whole system was moving over us. It was 9:00 and we figured we would just keep the kids up just in case things got too bad. It was a good storm, but nothing severe ended up in our area. We moved the girls' dollhouses together so they could be neighbors since we didn't want Emma playing near the windows and they thought that was just the greatest thing ever. They played so well that it really didn't end up to matter that they were up later than they should be. I guess they went to bed right before 10:00 and then Bo and I stayed up to almost 1:00 finishing the Hatfields and McCoys series. It was really, good - something I would not ordinarily think of watching, but Bo really liked it. It had some difficult parts to watch with intense violence, but I did learn a lot from watching it since it was a true story.

Saturday started lazy. We were thinking of going to Lindsay's pool for the day, but the weather was not perfect - a little too cloudy for me to enjoy a pool. So, we decided to take the girls to the VA Beach Science Museum. They had never been before. The price for a day's visit for just the four of us was a little insane. However, for a little more you could become members and get free entry for an entire year. So, we decided to do that and we could also put my mom's name on the membership so she could take them. We didn't even get to see everything, so we will have to go back and it will also be nice to take visitors to. They had redone a lot of the museum since I had been - before Bo and I were even married. I use to take the boys I was a nanny for years ago and so much had changed I did not even recognize the place. We saw snakes, lizards, frogs, komodo dragons, all kinds of fish, sharks, rays, otters, a crocodile and I don't even know what else. The girls had a blast and we really enjoyed our day. Later we met up with Brandon and Sarah in VA Beach and went out to dinner with them.

 photo of me before leaving (courtesy of Hannah)

 these sting rays were hilarious - they would come right up to you like this wanting to be touched

 really cool reflection room

 a little dippin dot snack break

the otters were adorable - this was one waiting to be fed

 On a sad note, my cousin Joey's and Dawn's new baby Colby was admitted to the children's hospital on Saturday and we found out today that they are treating him for bacterial Meningitis. Poor Colby has to stay in the hospital for two weeks. Connie, Joey's mom (my mom's sister) has been a wreck. He had to have an IV put in and he has surgery tomorrow for a pic line. We are surely hoping he is well soon and that the doctors are giving him the best treatment there is. We are all pulling together this week to help out with Kelly and Connor too.

Today we went to Sunday School and then my cousin Courtney texted me that they were taking the boat out. Score!!! So, went back home, got our suits, went to mom and dads for lunch (they watched the girls for us) and then Buster, Annette and Courtney picked us up at mom and dads. We had a beautiful afternoon on the boat and I had never been on his boat before so I was loving it. Whitney actually stayed with the girls at mom and dads and Mammie ended up coming too so they had a nice time with the girls. 

 loved these dresses the girls wore for the first time today

 more photos I found on my phone today - this one from Emma I am sure - she has been learning how to hula hoop

 mom caught by one of the girls 

me and Bo soaking up the sun

This week is our last week of testing! We are testing Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in science. Tomorrow is a full workday for me since they do not test the kids on Mondays. This is the last full week. Next week is all half days and that is it aside from two workdays. As of Friday I had inventoried 6,000 books, so I am still doing pretty good for also being involved with so much testing and technology. (There are over 14,000 book in the library so I still have a lot to do). 

Hope you had a great weekend! We sure did - just hoping sweet Colby gets better soon and lots of prayers for my dear cousins and the rest of the Parrish fam.